Golden Comments on California’s Emission Reporting Law in Bloomberg Law Article

November 25, 2023

Bloomberg

Jay Golden

Public Administration & International Affairs Department

Dynamic Sustainability Lab

Agriculture

Environment

Sustainability

United States

Bloomberg

Jay Golden

Thousands of companies doing business in California will be required to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years under a new law Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed in October.

The law (S.B. 253) is the first of its kind in the U.S. and backers contend it will push many businesses to begin assessing environmental impacts that have never done so before, bringing more transparency to efforts to cut emissions and to counter greenwashing, a practice where companies make misleading statements about their environmental practices.

California, the world’s fifth largest economy, “just leapfrogged over everyone” through legislation that became law last month that requires companies to start reporting carbon emissions from the energy used for operations and outputs beginning in 2026, says Jay Golden, Pontarelli Professor of Environmental Sustainability and Finance and director of the Dynamic Sustainability Lab.

“This is changing the game,” Golden says. Companies will need to know the carbon intensity of their products, and agricultural products will play a huge role, he says.

Read more in the Bloomberg Law article, “Biobased Products ‘Our Silicon Valley,’ Nebraska Governor Says.”